News brief: Big stories of the day

The Trump administration is quietly pushing ahead with a bid to create a new security and political alliance with six Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, in part to counter Iran’s expansion in the region, according to US and Arab officials. 

Over the years, Pakistan's Imran Khan has been known for his anti-American rhetoric, once even suggesting he might, as prime minister, order the shooting down of US drones targeting al Qaeda figures along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Lok Sabha elections should be held through ballot paper and not Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), demanded Samajwadi Party (SP) national executive at its meeting in Lucknow.

The heavy rains and floods in the country have so far claimed the lives of 138 people in Maharashtra, 125 in Kerala, 116 in West Bengal, 52 in Gujarat and 34 in Assam.

Turkey and the United States can save their relationship, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Saturday after President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara in a deepening of tensions between the NATO partners.